


The Cost of War

by heroami



Series: Missing Moments [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Some angst, Space family, Team Bonding, just a bit though, set after Return to the Balmera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 08:56:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11825358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heroami/pseuds/heroami
Summary: And then it hit Lance just how young Pidge really was.Kids her age –our age, a voice which sounded a lot like Hunk reminded him – should be worrying about things like school and their first kiss. Not whether or not their friends would survive the day.





	The Cost of War

Lance was tired. Like, _really tired_.

Coran had warned him earlier that day that there might be side effects from his time in healing pod, but this was honestly ridiculous.

It didn’t help that the adrenaline that got him through their fight for, and subsequent liberation of, the Balmera was quickly depleting.

After a lengthy thank-you ceremony from the Balmerans, and an even longer post-mission debrief with the team afterwards, the Blue Paladin was about ready to sleep for ten thousand years himself. But, alas, that probably wasn’t going to happen. It was already well into the Castle’s ‘night’ cycle, and, if he had learned anything about Allura in the handful of days he’s known her, she would be waking them up bright and early for training or bonding or something equally Paladin-y. 

He had _just_ settled in bed, clad in his fancy Altean pajamas and homemade food-goo face mask, when there was a knock at the door.

He glared at the ceiling, lips pursed together firmly and elected to ignore it. Whatever it was, and whoever it was, it could surely wait until tomorrow.

But the knocking was back seconds later – louder and more insistent.

Lance groaned in frustration, flinging off the covers roughly and marching to the door.

“Do you mind?” He demanded loudly, as he placed his hand on the access panel. “It’s been a really long day and I just want to -. Pidge?”

He blinked down at his younger team member, stunned. Of all the people to come calling at this hour, he least expected it to be Pidge. (Okay, there was only like seven of them in the castle, but you get the point.)

“Uh, um,” Pidge stammered, eyes impossibly wide behind his – no, _her_ – glasses as they raked over him before glancing away. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I just, uhm. I just…” She trailed off, now staring at the ground and shuffling her feet sheepishly.

Lance arched an eyebrow. He may not know the Green Paladin all that well, but he knew enough to know that she didn’t _do_ sheepish.

“Everything alright?” he asked gently, watching her face carefully for some sort of indication of what exactly was going on, since she seemed currently tongue-tied. She glanced up at him briefly, before her eyes were darting away again. He waited patiently as she sorted through their thoughts. Years of dealing with stubborn siblings and cousins taught him it was better not to push in delicate situations.

Which this was. At least, he thinks so.

Finally, Pidge inhaled deeply. Her shoulders tensed and her hands clenched into fists, like she was bracing herself.

“No, things aren’t fine.” She looked up, catching and actually holding his gaze this time, and Lance’s stomach squirmed unpleasantly at the tears threatening to overflow from brown eyes. “The other day. After the explosion,” she started slowly, before biting her lip. The next sentence came out in a rush. “Finding you face down on the floor was hands down the scariest thing I’ve encountered out here.” She paused again, swallowing heavily. “I know that, back at the Garrison, we didn’t really know each other or get along and that I’m the reason why. I kept you at arm’s length. A-and I’m sorry,” she croaked, roughly wiping away a few stray tears. “But I need you to know that -. Because I _can’t_ … I can’t…”

And then it hit Lance just how young Pidge really was.

Kids her age – _our age_ , a voice which sounded a lot like Hunk reminded him – should be worrying about things like school and their first kiss. Not whether or not their friends would survive the day.

He reached forward and pulled her to his chest as the apology dissolved into tears. He hushed her gently, pressing his cheek into sandy hair and rocking her gently. He winced when arms wound around him and pulled tight, since his back was still a bit sore, but he didn’t say anything else, letting Pidge cry it all out.

After a few moments, the tears faded into hiccups, and then into sniffling.  

“You mean a lot to me, asshole,” Pidge mumbled into his nightshirt. “And seeing you like that and being unable to help, it really sucked.”

“Hey, hey,” Lance soothed, pushing the younger Paladin back so he could look her in the eyes. “I’m fine now. And it’s _because_ of you and the others.”

“Except Keith?” she asked, the corner of her mouth twitching.

“Naturally.”

She laughed weakly, wiping at her nose with a loud, gross-sounding sniff. Lance wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“You should really cut him some slack. He’s not as bad as you seem to think. He was just as worried about you as the rest of us were.”

“Doubtful,” he scoffed, but smiled when Pidge sent him an exasperated look. “But I’ll take that into consideration because you asked.” He glanced back into his room, finding the clock above his bed and wincing. _Was that really the time?_ “In the morning.”

She nodded, smile falling. “Yeah. It’s been a long day. We should probably get some sleep,” she suggested.

And then didn’t move.

Neither of them did for a long moment before Lance made a decision.

“Do you want to stay?” he asked, backing out of the doorway and gesturing towards his bed.

The Green Paladin jolted in surprise, then shot him a suspicious look.

“Why?”

Lance rolled his eyes. _He got no respect around here._ “Because I’m tired and you clearly aren’t ready to leave.” Pidge’s eyes narrowed. _None at all._ “And,” he added. “I’m still kinda cold from the pod. Could use the extra body heat.”

“Really?” she asked, taking a cautious step forward.

“Oh, totally,” he lied. “Coran said it was a possible side-effect.”

She considered this for a moment before nodding. “Alright then.”

With that, she made a beeline to the bed, climbing in and making herself comfortable. Lance huffed out a quiet laugh, closing the door and joining her, gently nudging her towards the wall. She relented, and once he was settled, she rested her head on his chest. He was about to make a comment when he realized her head was resting over his heart. The words died on his tongue. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tangled his hand in her hair. He gently scratched at her scalp, the way his mom used to do to him, and she sighed.

He was seconds away from drifting off when Pidge’s voice cut through the silence.

“Do you think we’ll be okay? I mean, we’re fighting a war against a multi-millennia old empire. The odds are against us.”

Lance hesitated. “I wish I could tell you things are going to be okay, but I’m really not sure.” He gave her a reassuring squeeze. “But, I can guarantee that we are going to fight like hell to try to be.”

There wasn’t a response, and honestly, Lance wasn’t expecting one.

A few minutes later, the Green Paladin’s breathing evened out. He closed his eyes and prayed to a God he hadn’t prayed to in years. He asked for guidance and for protection and for the ability to one day make it back home. But most of all, he prayed for peace of mind, for everyone, because that’s really what they all needed as they set off on this journey.

Satisfied that he did what he could for now, Lance drifted to sleep.

It was the best sleep he had had since finding the Blue Lion.   

**Author's Note:**

> [check out my tumblr](http://heroami.tumblr.com/)


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